As the Flower Withers
by Lady November Nocturne
Summary: Set before M-Day. Sometimes with no matter how much you love something, it slowly turns into dust. GambitXOc
1. Turn Loose the Swans

It's been well over a year since I posted anything on here. My friend and me have worked for months just developing the character and considering this is the very beginning of our story it's much shorter than I would've liked but I will probably revise this later on. Thanks for reading and please leave construtive reviews!

-Sara A.

* * *

"Cher, be careful when ya do dat!" Gambit said in his thick Cajun accent as his new student flew backwards to the ground after a decent attempt at channeling her energy in her palms and attempting to shoot it out. There was a mess of black hair on the grass off the Xavier Institute lawn that slowly got up wiping the dirt off her suit. She quietly came back up in her original stance in front of the Cajun.

"I'm fine, Remy. How does it work again?" She said softly extending her hands focusing on a target. He gave a quiet sigh.

"It's simple, cher. You're gonna think about that power of yours goin' to that there target." He said, pointing to her objective. She wasn't new at the Institute by any stretch she had been her for six years and was able to take the psionic energy of thoughts and transform it into concussive booms. Now making her turn it into a single beam was much more of a challenge, if not downright lethal.

"Angelina, concentrate, Remy don't wanna go flyin' now" She simply nodded, closing her deep blue eyes.

"So for the first day of training, how am I doing?" Angelina asked, curiously, focusing her eyes on the circular target. A soft light surrounded her palms as the energy started pulsing quietly. A boost of excitement ran through Remy's red and black eyes that slowly turned into fear as he saw her the energy pulsing at a more rapid rate and in the blink of an eye, her boots were off the floor and with a shriek they were both lying in the grass.

"Gambit?" She asked as he got up shaking his old beige coat and the grass out of his shoulder-length brown hair.

"Yes, Siphon?"

"Should we call it quits for the d-" She was quickly cut off by a quick nod as he grabbed her forearm hoisting her up.

"You'll get it 'ventually, Cherie." He said following her walk back into the mansion as they parted ways.

* * *

She took a warm shower, relaxing the tension in her body after a long day of training with Wolverine and then Gambit she was exhausted. She knew Gambit must have felt the same way mentally the first day of training had been a complete slump. She had blown up a good bit of the obstacles out much to Logan's dislike but she had still survived that. Tomorrow she'd have to work on her telepathy even more than she had already with Professor Xavier. In the beginning of her stay she could not turn off her mind reading so she was constantly reading every ones mind and using the energy from them, when that energy filled her mind she would create large booms destroying whatever was around her. The rest of it she didn't like to think about most of the X-Men know what had happened she had come to them when she was only sixteen while her power was so under the radar Cyerbro hadn't detected it when it had manifested at twelve. she grabbed a towel and whipped off her body drying her long black hair, staring at her figure. She was a little taller than average and had a shapely pale body, plump lips. Her dark black hair that looked like raven's wings and her eyes that looked like sapphires in the pale moonlight, then a pair of plump dark pink almost red lips underneath a soft but pointed nose. She quickly threw on a pair of pajama bottoms and a baggy t-shirt walking down stairs to the kitchen, yawning and stretching her limbs. There was already someone scavenging through the fridge.

"Angelina, get some sleep kid," Logan said pulling out a beer and opening it with his adamantium claws.

"When our training sessions aren't at the crack of dawn you can chastise me. The younger kids are running for their lives to get away from your lessons," she said, giggling. She quickly grabbed a small pint of ice cream and a spoon. He gave her a glare and swiftly left as she sat down eating, only to hear another set of footsteps walk down in a jazzy rhythm.

"Belle, ain't you supposed to be in bed?" He said abruptly stopping his footing and staring. She looked at him with the spoon in her mouth, waving her hands in the air as through she was angry. He grabbed the spoon from her mouth and sat down across from her.

"First, Logan, now ,you! I'm hungry," she said, relaxing a bit, trying to grab her spoon back from Remy.

She had never gotten a good look at him he had brown hair and strange eyes that gave him a devious appearance that coupled with his height and build made him look incredibly intimidating to someone who wasn't accustomed to the many mutants that had wandered the very halls of the Institute. He caught her eyes wandering around and gave a chuckle.

"Like whatcha see, cher?" He said jokingly, pulling the spoon further away from her. She grabbed the tub of ice cream and started flicking the goo at him, a pink glob of it effectively landing on his nose. His eyebrows knitted together and she seemed to be trying to sink into her chair.

"Remy, don't think dat was very kind of ya but when you wanna play dirty he don't got a problem with dat," he said smirking as he charging the spoon with a purple hue and as he flung it she quickly evaded by ducking under the table, eyes as wide as saucers.

**_Boom!_**

It was small but still left a good amount of smoke to cough through and enough to make Logan charge into the kitchen, claws poised and ready for the smallest threat.

"What was that?"

"LeBeau," she said flatly, pointing at him. He glared both down and sheathed them back into his skin, giving them a warning and that the mansion needed to remain in one piece.

"When I was livin' in New Orleans, I was a member of a Thieves' Guild down ther, whiskers over there don't scare me," he said in his thick accent. Angelina gave a quick chuckle.

"As a child no one knew much about mutants so they believed I was a schizophrenic, I blew up a theraphy building during an ECT." His eyes widened slightly as she got up and cleaned the ice cream off the counter where it had exploded, giving Remy a napkin to clean his face of the cherry goo.

"Night, Remy." She said adjusting her pajamas and jogging up to her room as he said replied back


	2. Deeper Down

I'm sorry for the time it has taken to put up another chapter but here it is. Hope you enjoy it!

-Sara Ana

* * *

"Angelina, relax, you'll never get better struggling against us." A choir of shadows said as she stood up.

"_You're a freak!"_

"_Monster! They were only trying to help you!" _There were arms everywhere, pulling

"Don't touch me," she said pulling her knees into her chest.

"Angelina, you're safe with us," they said, "people will never grasp who you are, come home." Two skeletons' raised their arms extended as if waiting for a hug. She slowly got up, fighting and pulling away from the black hands tugging at her body. She began walking as if she was battling a sandstorm.

"_Come home."_

"_We love you, don't leave again." _One of them cooed, walking ever so slowly as the other wrapped it's bony fingers around its partner's shoulder.

"_You let them hurt us! You're strength means nothing. We sacrificed everything!" _

The ground seemed to unravel and cracked everywhere as if she had been walking on glass; the sound of people was everywhere. She began to fall hearing screams and the sound of protests.

"_**These 'X-Men' are abominations!"**_

"_**We must destroy them to keep our children safe!"**_

"_**A new terror for the American family!"**_

"_**Die!"**_

Her eyes popped open and a sudden burst of energy expelled itself knocking over books and the various other objects she had scattered about her room at the institute. She got up, stretching her limbs satisfied by the slight popping noises her joints made as she began to clean and her messy room. She loved having the power to make small blasts of energy in her sleep that knocked over everything, she though sarcastically. She collects so much energy in her head that as her brain's fail-safe it made small booms in

her sleep to even everything out. You always want your brain intact inside your head. After a couple of minutes her room was clean and she quickly threw on a dark pair of jeans and loose black sweater, noticing the bright red letters on her alarm clock she darted down the stairs grabbing an apple on her way down to the danger room. Wolverine and her team glared as she came into their vision. Match's head light up a tad stronger as he began glaring.

"For a team leader you're a good half hour late," Indra said, he's purple skin already sweating, his red eyes gleaming. He was one of the youngest at the institute still a teenager and could create purple scaly armor. He quickly continued," but I shouldn't be complaining," whispering in her ear,"Logan's training sessions are psychotic." Wolf Cub howled in response, scratching his beige fur while a small girl with black hair and dark colored eyes began laughing.

"Network, this is serious. If we don't train," Match gesturing to Siphon, "we're not going to be as strong as we should be." Indra rolled his eyes while Wolf Cub gave a sad bark.

"Relax, Match, Siphon's got this," Wolf Cub said, wagging his tail, and nudging Siphon.

"Yeah, well, you kids better start praying that you can take my new course," Logan said, slightly irritated. "Siphon after this go up to Charles." She quickly nodded her head and turned to the grab her suit. It was plain black suit and a small jacket with a yellow belt; their signature red "X" glowing in the light and on both sides a pistol was placed in their holsters. They all reentered the Danger Room clad in their uniforms. Wolf Cubs outfit consisted of its black trim on the hems and yellow in the middle, the X-men belt shining like a set of flames. Match had yellow on the short sleeves of his uniform to the end of his chest red lined the yellow, the rest consisting of a shiny black material, the belt mimicked. Network was a small girl in her mid-teens wearing a grey and black suit with a silver 'X' across her chest, her jacket and leggings consisted of other metallic monotone colors. Indra had a small red diamond shaped jewel on his forehead, wearing a black suit with a silver 'X' encircled on it. He had red-burgundy hair and eyes in addition to purple skin that had strange lines on his jaw, cheeks, and forehead.

The Danger Room had changed completely in appearance from being a room entirely of metal with various weapons hiding inside metal sealed hatches to a rocky terrain. A forest surrounded them with coniferous trees; she recognized it as a taiga chucking softly at Wolverine's way to sneak his heritage into a training exercise.

"You have a half hour to infiltrate a nearby facility and get its information on the USB at your team leader's feet, starting now." They all nodded as Siphon grabbed the small item to Network, knowing it was more her specialty. Siphon told Wolf Cub to sniff out the surrounding area, his wet nose pointed in the air taking in large whiffs.

"There is something wrong with air," he said sneezing. Siphon quickly ran ahead and wafted the air into her face. Logan seriously put sulfur bombs in his new training course; she rolled her eyes and gestured for everyone to run with Wolf Cub leading the charge since he was the fastest on his feet. They soon found the area a large structure with guard towers around it made out of gray stones covered in moss, guards holding assault rifles walking like the Nutcracker. She noticed a forest to their left, nodding Match to start a fire to distract them. After the forest began to blaze more, the guards surrounded it. Quickly Siphon and her team crouched down and as quickly as possible to the far wall. Match grabbed Siphon and Network flying over while Wolf Cub grabbed Indra scaling over the wall with his claws. There were a few building and no other guards, Network quickly searched for a computer and pointed to the building at the far wall. Siphon's watch read that only ten minutes remained and that they needed hurry. They found an ID card scanner that Network quickly short-circuited. The team of five stealthily walked through the hallways following the tiny teenage girl; she quickly found the master computer and began downloading the many files. The simulation slowly but surely faded away to turn the Danger Room into the metal clad, horrifying piece of machinery everyone knew it was.

"Kids, times up…you're going to slow and cautious. Sometimes fights and risks must be done to ensure your safety," he said, noticing Indra's obvious dislike of violence by his suddenly sour face. Network crossed her arms across her chest with her usual mellow facial expression while Match shrugged his head flaming more than it should've. Everyone left the Danger room and returned to their normal attire.

"It's a mighty fine sight seeing you here, Angelina," she heard a man behind her say in his usual think Cajun accent," think you can give me a kiss on the cheek for some lucky. Ya never know when the Queen of Hearts might not wanna give you hers." He motioned to his deck.

"Not today, Remy got to see Xavier," she said stretching her arms and shuffling her feet into her flats, giggling at him.

He gave a disappointed look then smirked," Maybe next time, Cherie?" He walked into the other room to change into his suit as she walked into the elevator, and then turned to the stairs entering Xavier's Office.

* * *

After her long exhausting mental session with the professor she went out to the small town in her small deep blue car, she was grateful was so mundane it would never attract attention, wearing a thick coat and large aviator style glasses. Everyone knew most of the X-Men especially the more _normal_ looking ones because according to extremists they were the most "dangerous." She quietly window shopped through the small crowds and rusty colored crunching leaves that wandered the streets on the chilly autumn day, occasionally going into the small boutiques buying a few things here and there. She looked up at the sky noticing the sun beginning to go down and the Victorian styled streetlights started turning on. People liked patrolling at night to see if any mutants would wonder under the cover it gave and she was doing her best to enjoy going incognito so she walked as inconspicuously as possible. A bunch of guys were surrounding the lot she had parked her car in, hearing them whistle.

"Hey, lady!" One of them shouted, barely being able to jog up to her. He had dirty blond hair and his face was red. "You want to hang out with my friends and me at that pub over there?"

"I'm sorry but I don't know you and it's getting late," she said sincerely, noticing the smell of beer and hot sauce on his breath, she set the small bags in the trunk of her car. The man's face began to contort into anger.

"Stop being such a bitch lady and hang out with us," he said pushing on her shoulder as she walked over to the driver's side and began unlocking it. She ignored him and focused on getting out of the situation and unlocking the door. He grabbed her arm and began pulling her to follow him.

"We don't bite," another one said who seemed much older than the others with his friend whistling. Her temper soared as she yanked her arm, and made a small blast that would be enough to make them stumble over their feet and went back to her car getting herself into the driver's seat.

"God, what a freaky girl," one shouted at her his words slurring.

**"**Yeah, freak is not the word" he said in a nervous stutter as if he was trying to make her feel weirder than she already was it was like pushing glass into her skin. Their lifestyles weren't jokes they would never understand the discrimination she felt against the people of the world. She quickly drove off to the institute making sure none of them had followed, the many protesters had dispersed and she was able to enter through the main gate and not the back way. Their cardboard and paint signs covered the grass of the Mansion like a graveyard. Since they had been exposed most mutants who wanted to go to college and some of the younger ones just going to high school like normal children, if anything it was a constant reminder of broken dreams and ambitions. She graduated High School before anyone's identity was known and even then afterwards everything she had ever done was in question, nothing makes you want to scream more than someone attempting to take away a degree you fairly earned. She took a deep breath, taking off her glasses, and attempting to relax. The institute had at least made some of its earliest students into teachers, if anything they deserved praise for dealing with having students throw fireballs and teleporting every which way. She gave a deep sigh, walking into thewarm-toned halls of the institute

"Yeah, freak is not the word" he said in a nervous stutter as if he was trying to make her feel weirder than she already was it was like pushing glass into her skin. Their lifestyles weren't jokes they would never understand the discrimination she felt against the people of the world. She quickly drove off to the institute making sure none of them had followed, the many protesters had dispersed and she was able to enter through the main gate and not the back way. Their cardboard and paint signs covered the grass of the Mansion like a graveyard. Since they had been exposed most mutants who wanted to go to college and some of the younger ones just going to high school like normal children, if anything it was a constant reminder of broken dreams and ambitions. She graduated High School before anyone's identity was known and even then afterwards everything she had ever done was in question, nothing makes you want to scream more than someone attempting to take away a degree you fairly earned. She took a deep breath, taking off her glasses, and attempting to relax. The institute had at least made some of its earliest students into teachers, if anything they deserved praise for dealing with having students throw fireballs and teleporting every which way. She gave a deep sigh, walking into the pristine warm-toned halls of the institute.**  
**

"Hey, Cher," Gambit said, winking and gave her a relaxed salute. She quickly replied and continued walking to her room, noticing a card and a red rose sticking out of the space between the door and the wall.

"That rotten Cajun,"she quietly thought to herself, giggling as she plopped down onto the sky blue comforter of her bed, feeling the velvet petals. She smirked putting his famed Queen of Hearts onto the nightstand along with the rose.


End file.
